A Wi-Fi network may be formed by one or more access points (APs) that provide a wireless communication channel or link with a number of client devices or stations (STAs). Each AP, which may correspond to a Basic Service Set (BSS), periodically broadcasts beacon frames to enable any STAs within wireless range of the AP to establish and/or maintain a communication link with the Wi-Fi network. Once a STA is associated with the AP, the AP and the STA may exchange data frames. Data frames transmitted over a Wi-Fi network may carry higher-level protocol data such as, for example, Internet Protocol (IP) data packets.
A data frame that encapsulates higher-level protocol data may include a Media Access Control (MAC) header, a Logical Link Control (LLC) header, a Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP) header, and a frame body. The frame body may contain an encapsulated data packet of a given Ethertype. The LLC header and the SNAP header, which may be collectively referred to as the LLC/SNAP header, may indicate the Ethertype of the encapsulated data packet. This layering technique, which is commonly referred to as LLC Packet Discrimination (LPD), is the default format of MAC service data units (MSDUs), a number of which may be contained in a MAC protocol data unit (MPDU). When an MPDU is transferred from the MAC layer to the physical (PHY) layer of a device, a number of MPDUs may be encapsulated within a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), which may then be transmitted to another device over the Wi-Fi network.
When such data frames are transmitted over Wi-Fi networks, some of the bytes in the LLC/SNAP header may remain constant. For example, when a data frame encapsulates a data packet identified by an Ethertype, six (6) bytes of the data frame's LLC/SNAP header may not change, irrespective of the Ethertype. In such situations, transmission of these 6 bytes of the LLC/SNAP header may be unnecessary.